The U.S. Air Force Sustainment Center at Hill AFB, Utah plans to contract with BAE Systems for the repair of components for the F-16 Viper Memory Loader Verifier (MLV) interim adapter (IA).
Those parts help provide flight line loading and diagnostic testing of avionics systems and their software carried on the Lockheed Martin [LMT] fighter.
“The federal government doesn’t possess or have the rights to the OEM’s [original equipment manufacturer] mental property which consists of the entire technical package needed to repair these end items,” the sustainment center said last June in a Justification and Approval (J&A) for a sole-source award to BAE Systems. “The federal government has requested to buy the OEM’s Mental Property, and BAE has refused. Reverse engineering could be required by any potential source to develop a repair process. It has been determined that reverse engineering the entire data package will not be economically feasible. The federal government will proceed to request the info package and the rights to the info mandatory to repair these end items from the OEM through the period of performance.”
The contract to BAE Systems is to be three years with two one-year options.
“Reverse engineering the VIPER IA tester to ascertain repair technical data for use at an organic repair depot or by competitive industrial repair sources would lead to very limited success because of OEM proprietary firmware, software, source code, drivers, and embedded code developed and installed on the VIPER IA system,” per the sustainment center. “The source code for the firmware
was not provided by the OEM and reverse engineering firmware can’t be achieved with any measure in accuracy. BAE Systems, Inc. has returned no-bids in consequence of rough order of magnitude (ROM) requests for technical data including firmware or firmware source code.”
The Air Force has been developing a Common Aircraft Portable Reprogramming Equipment (CAPRE) Secure Memory Loader Verifier (SMLV) to enhance cybersecurity.
“Warner-Robins [Air Logistics Complex, Ga.] has stated they’re one 12 months away from fielding a CAPRE version that can replace the VIPER [MLV] with an organically-developed test set with unlimited data rights,” the sustainment center said in June. “The modified CAPRE is estimated to take 3 years total to work through any ‘bugs,’ which is why this contract is a 3-year base with 2 one-year options (to account for schedule slip risk management).”
“The Viper MLV interface adapter is currently not a candidate for organic repair because of the U.S. government’s lack of information rights sufficient for organic repair stand-up, and inability to buy it from the OEM,” based on the J&A. “Cost to reverse-engineer Tester IA not cost/time effective with pending organic alternative tester INW [in-work] at Robins AFB (deliveries to start 2024 and fully fielded by 2026), given the over-30-year break-even point for reverse engineering.”
BAE Systems said last October that it had released a brand new F-16 MLV II with an open system architecture to offer ready updates and enhance F-16 protection from cyber attacks (, Oct. 12, 2022).
BAE Systems said on the time that two countries had ordered six Viper MLV IIs for F-16 Block 70/72s under Foreign Military Sales and that those countries may order 15 more Viper MLV IIs.
BAE Systems is to construct the Viper MLV II in Fort Value, Texas.